The
Long Journey:
Part II
The road to
Saratoga
by Emily
L. Marcason
|
Lady
Christian Henrietta Acland came from a wealthy family and was a popular
woman in London's society. Never would her family or friends have
imagined that at the age of 27 would Lady Acland be aboard a military
convoy headed for America. Yet, there she was on April 8, 1776 accompanying
her husband of five years, Major John Dyke Acland, to America.
1
Lady Acland had some luxuries aboard the Kent, bound for America.
Both husband and wife had their respected servants and the family
dog also made the journey. Yet,
it is interesting to note that Lady Acland was not the
only woman along with the five companies of
Major Acland's regiment. |
The Baroness von
Riedesel and Lady Acland traveled along
Lake Champlain on their
journeys. Photo by Jim Millard
Copyright © 2004 America's Historic Lakes |
|
She was actually one of a few wives and children
aboard. The British Army "permitted three women per company to
travel with
their men, to serve as laundresses, cooks
and nurses." 2
It wasn't until weeks later that the Kent saw land. According to Lady
Acland's journal the sight of land was marvelous after such a treacherous
journey over the North Atlantic. On May 18, Lady Acland recorded her
feelings about seeing land for the first time in days. "…The hills
rose immediately from the shore magnificently bold, clothed with the
most beautiful trees, silver firs, larch, sycamore and many other
plants with which we were unacquainted…" 3
Eleven days later on May
27, the Aclands set foot on Quebec soil.
|
Click on the image to
see an illustration
of a British camp.
(Illustrations: Benson J. Lossing) |
Details
of the specific locations of Lady Acland up until she meets her husband
at Fort Edwards in August of 1777 are blurry. It was after the battle
on July 6 that took place near Samuel Churchill's house in Hubbardton,
that Major Acland wrote to his wife in Montreal and urged her |
| to join
him while he recovered from his wounds. She set sail on July 13, the
same day she received her husband's letter, despite a terrible storm
that nearly crashed her boat into nearby rocks. On July 18 she was at
her husband's side at Mount Independence. 4 |
|
The
Baroness Frederika Charlotte Louise von Riedesel, wife of the commanding
general of the Brunswick troops of Germany serving with the British
army, is considered one of the only woman reporters of the era, detailing
military life as a woman and as a German during the Revolutionary
War. Unlike Lady Acland, the Baroness had a unique journey to America:
she traveled without her husband.
Although
she had two small children and one on the way, the Baroness
convinced her husband to allow her to accompany him to America.
Her husband agreed to have his wife accompany him on two conditions:
she was not allowed to travel during her pregnancy and she had
to travel with a servant.5 Therefore, when the Brunswick troops
left in February 1776, the Baroness remained at home. Early
in April, the Brunswick troops, the General included, left Portsmouth,
England and sailed to Canada to join Burgoyne’s troops.6
By May 14, the
Baroness and the new baby girl, Caroline, were feeling up
to traveling. After a rendezvous in London for the winter
due to the Baroness missing the ship leaving in the autumn
to America, the Baroness and her three daughters set sail
for America on April 16, 1777 on a merchant ship which arrived
at Quebec on June 11. 7 “My heart,” she wrote, “was
filled with a mixture of joy and sadness and with the longing
to be with him again soon, to hold him in my arms and to bring
to him our dear
children.” 8 It would still be many days,
however, until the Baroness would be united with her husband.
The Baroness and her daughters traveled up the St. Lawrence River,
to the Richelieu River to Lake Champlain. Once on Lake Champlain,
the group sailed across the lake to the waterway leading to Lake
George.12
According to the journal the Baroness kept, the family
traveled on a boat belonging to her husband but was accompanied by
another vessel that was heavily armed.13 The
Baroness had to lay her coat on the ground so that she and her
children had a place to sleep. Despite being a woman of high class,
it was not uncommon for the Baroness to be forced to adapt to the
hardships of an army.
On August 14,
the family reached Fort Edward. The next day the Baroness had the
reunion she had been dreaming of. The Baroness soon after her arrival
learned that her presence at the camp in Fort Edward was in part
because of Lady Acland. A few days prior to her arrival, Burgoyne
had been dining with his officers and heard that Major Acland’s
wife was on her way to join the major at Fort Edward. Burgoyne said
to General Riedesel, “You ought to let your wife come too.”
14
When the British
army began to move towards Albany on September 11, 1771, the Baroness
and her daughters were able to travel with the General. It was then
on to Saratoga.
|
Sources/Notes:
1
Richard Ketchum, “Saratoga: Turning point of America’s
Revolutionary War” (Owl Book: Published by Henry Holt and Company,
New York 1997) 89.
2 lbid., 90.
3 lbid., 92.
4 lbid., 214.
5
Marvin Brown, “Baroness von Riedesel and the
American Revolution: Journal and Correspondence of a tour of duty
1776-1783” (University of North Carolina Press: Published by
Kingsport Press, Tennessee 1965) xxviii.
6
lbid., 145-175.
7
Richard Ketchum, “Saratoga: Turning point of America’s
Revolutionary War” (Owl Book: Published by Henry Holt and Company,
New York 1997) 129.
8
Marvin Brown, “Baroness von Riedesel and the American Revolution:
Journal and Correspondence of a tour of duty 1776-1783” (University
of North Carolina Press: Published by Kingsport Press, Tennessee 1965)
31.
9
Richard Ketchum, “Saratoga: Turning point of America’s
Revolutionary War” (Owl Book: Published by Henry Holt and Company,
New York 1997) 129.
10
Marvin Brown, “Baroness von Riedesel and the American Revolution:
Journal and Correspondence of a tour of duty 1776-1783” (University
of North Carolina Press: Published by Kingsport Press, Tennessee 1965)
xxx.
11
lbid., 42.
12
lbid., xxx.
13 lbid., 42.
14
Richard Ketchum, “Saratoga: Turning point of
America’s Revolutionary War” (Owl Book: Published by Henry
Holt and Company, New York 1997) 291.
Illustrations by Benson
J. Lossing and Felix Darley: Benson J. Lossing. "THE
PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812; OR, ILLUSTRATIONS,
BY PEN AND PENCIL, OF THE HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, SCENERY,
RELICS, AND TRADITIONS OF THE LAST WAR FOR AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE." 1869. Courtesy of the Floyd Harwood
Collection. |
|
|
